Booing Warner, Smith can backfire for England: Anderson

LONDON
(Agencies): Sledging and booing Australia’s Steve Smith and David Warner during
the English summer will only push the duo to improve their performance levels,
England pace bowler James Anderson said.

Smith
and Warner were suspended for 12 months after a ball-tampering incident in
South Africa last year and returned to international cricket at the World Cup.

The
pair will face England in their World Cup match at Lord’s on June 25 and are
also likely to endure hostile reception during the Ashes, which begins at
Edgbaston on Aug. 1

“Having
played against them so many times before and knowing how they respond to that
kind of thing, whether it’s sledging on the field or booing from the crowd,
they are going to up their performance,” Anderson told Talksport Radio. “I
understand people won’t like what they have done but it’s in the past. “I would
rather it’s not talked about, although I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be
talked about.”

Anderson,
who has more wickets than any other fast bowler in test cricket with 575,
believes international players have shared better on-field relationships in
recent years, partly due to the increasing amount of global Twenty20 action.

“With
the amount of T20 cricket played around the world and with the Big Bash and the
IPL (Indian Premier League), players get to know a lot more about one another
outside of the cricket,” he added. “You have a different kind of relationship
then when you go onto the field and play against them.”